I think there's a strong case for turning off the Internet... Anyone else agree?

[MintyFinty]

And yes I am aware of the irony of posting this... On the Internet.
I just think its addictive, spreads misinformation and despair further and further and ruins the enjoyment of life mostly from a kind of keeping up with the world wide Jones and constantly intruding on our lives.
Yes I see the upsides but hospitals and businesses could have a licence for Internet use and then average people could have from 9-10pm available and then it's off.
I look back to the early nineties and it just feels so much better (even though it wasn't in some ways, and particularly not for me personally) but culturally and creatively, I think it was better off for not havethe Internet in every home and pocket.

Can you imagine lockdown without the Internet?
No zoom meetings ,with families and friends ,no online classes for schoolkids ,it's An amazing resource but I can see its both a blessing and a curse at times .

I'm such a luddite, I'm obviously not using it right?

Grocery shopping- never done it online. The thought horrifies me. Substitutions! No yellow stickers! Bags left on floor which I'd struggle to pick up. Having to wait in for delivery.

No no no.

Never been able to use it for anything NHS.

Never get handwritten letters/postcards anymore.

I use SM but only cos otherwise I'd be left out.

I had encyclopedias and lots of reference books. Wikipedia isn't a substitute.

It's shit I wish it was gone.

Love the way we have been distracted so quickly by the Kitten That Justifies the Internet!

On the whole I think I hate it more than I love it, but I guess we can never go back now, kittens notwithstanding.

No one has yet mentioned just how much energy it uses. I read a horrifying statistic that I have been trying to track down recently, but it was something like the amount of energy used just to power the internet and the digital economy would have powered the whole world in the 1980s.

We now have an energy crisis, people will go short this winter, but we are still wasting so much of it on looking at kittens and each other's genitalia.

I feel like this sometimes, but access to materials held in libraries all over the world has transformed my working life; on a more personal note, my 88 year old mother would have lost her independence much sooner without it - e.g. I can order her groceries, arrange her laundry etc from 600 miles away. BUT I do think that children should only be given very limited access until the age of 16

If you want to go back to the 90s you're out of your mind. The way women are treated now is a hundred times better, sexual assault was the norm, I could list many things in this area but trust me we do not want to go back there.

Right, I'm going off now and I'm not switching it on again until Monday, except for possibly watching something on Britbox.

I do agree the Internet is terrible for the environment but so is..you know...being a human

Fuck, no. It’s my actual lifeline. I’d have probably run away to the hills long before now if, as a lone parent confined to house after bedtime, I couldn’t get advice support and communicate with real adults virtually. Not to mention all the stupid little errands you don’t have to drag yourself on anymore. It’s almost completely possible and relatively affordable to only go to places you actually want to be nowadays (even if that’s nowhere). Hurrah!

So people who don't have access to lots of reference books and do rely on it for things like shopping, NHS and communicating with people. Screw them. You want it gone for everyone because you miss getting postcards.

I'd be dead by now without it. I'd have killed myself 3 years ago rather than finding a therapist outside of my home county and my nieces and nephew would be in care rather than living with me and as a result, my sister would likely have offed herself too. Butterfly effect.

Interesting idea and if at all possible I'd be in agreement with it as long as all businesses, apart from social media, could still use it.

Kitten

It's a tool. It's how you use it that counts.

I usually shop at the supermarket in person, but I live alone, so I'm glad of the option to order food online.

I received a postcard from a friend in the post this morning, and I sent one to a friend earlier in the week (though at £1.85 for just a postcard to the EU, it turns out my love for him does has a price, and he probably won't be getting another one.) I still write real letters, and send emails and WhatsApp and Facebook messages, often all to the same people.

I book all sorts of travel and tickets online. Yes, I could do that in person/via a travel agent/on the phone, but it's easier to do in the evening when I'm not working, can compare different sites and places and so on.

I look up a million facts online - definitions and etymology of words, places on maps, dates, history of buildings, machines, biographies, wildlife, garden plants, and a million other things. I could do all that in libraries etc, especially as i worked in libraries for some years, but it's a lot easier online.

And I can connect to friends all over the place. Last night, I had a couple of messages from a childhood friend who now lives in NZ, and another in the Netherlands, not to mention various parts of the UK. I'm back in touch with my childhood penfriend in Malaysia because of Facebook. I'd probably still be in touch with a lot of people whom I know one (I was always a great letter writer,) but not all of them, and not as frequently. I am on FB, but I don't often post pictures and I'm not on it all the time (not installed on my phone.) I can't be bothered with Instagram, twitter, Snapchat or others. There may be some things I miss out on, but so be it.

Also, if we turned off the Internet, I'd probably have to get a different job, as it's a large part of what my employer does. I don't think it would be helpful to put so many people out of work in the current economic climate.

I know what you mean OP. Blessing and curse. It makes people anti social, the mental health of teenagers seems to be so badly affected - internet porn affects how teens see sex, and girls especially are expected to do things no teenager should be exposed to.

The adage 'A lie can travel half way round the world before the truth has even got it's boots on' is even more accurate now, thanks to the internet - millions believe conspiracy theories spread online, adversaries can spread rumours and sow discontent at the push of a button.

It's a time sink. The genie's well and truly out of the bottle, but if we could go back to a time when we had no idea what the internet was, I'd be up for that.

YABU. Adults should be treated like adults; not irresponsible children who need the state to step in and parent them to stop them making poor choices (or what the powers that be consider to be poor choices).

Its a tool. In itself its fairly neutral. Like electricity. You're talking about programming. There's a lot of sinister programming around (looking at you TikTok) but that's not the inevitable nature of the Internet.

@Chikapu gorgeous. My Bibi must have looked just like that as a baby. She was a rescue Cats Protection found on the streets so I didnt get her till she was one. Same markings, whiskers and eyebrows.

I do think social media will have had its day soon

average people could have from 9-10pm available and then it's off
How does limiting time stop misinformation being spread?

I don't want to live in a nanny state.

Absolutely ridiculous suggestion, so many more businesses would go to the wall?

Shutting to the internet would put millions out of work.

Millions.

OP doesn't personally need the internet though so fuck everyone else and their livelihoods.

My job would be rather more difficult and time-consuming without the internet. It would use a heck of a lot more paper as well.

Still, Royal Mail would be coining it.

YANBU
I think we'd be better off without it